by Kaylea Cross
“Sure.” Sam walked over and opened the cupboard. She grabbed the cinnamon, then turned and handed it to Em.
Em took it, then frowned, staring at the label. “What the…”
Looking over her shoulder, Sam read the white label stuck across the original one. Ground Tree Bark.
She gasped, her gaze shooting back to the open cupboard. Sure enough, there were more little white labels on a few other spice jars, all lined up in a row on the shelf.
I’m a Big Dill.
Oregano Gangsta.
It’s Go Thyme.
I Beg Your Parsley.
And finally, the coup de grace. I Wanna Cumin Your—
Sam gasped and snatched that one from the shelf, whirling as she put it behind her back to hide it from Emily’s view.
“What is it?” Emily asked.
Sam’s face flushed. “Ben,” she growled, glaring up at the ceiling because he was on the other side of it. Really? Again with the label maker thing? He must have grabbed it from the shelf in Luke’s study to amuse himself with.
“Sorry,” she said to Emily. “It’s a thing he likes to do. Teasing me about my penchant for organizing stuff. I’ll scrape them off.”
“No, leave them. They’re cute,” Emily said, laughing.
Yeah, cute. She couldn’t fault Ben for his wit, but that last one was way off the inappropriate scale for someone as ladylike as Emily.
“Oh, you’re finished working?” his deep voice said behind her.
She turned to give her husband a hard stare. “Had fun amusing yourself while you waited, did you?”
“What?” he asked, all innocence as he came up to her. “You told me to find something to amuse myself with, other than you. So I did.”
“You’ve really got to let the label thing go.”
He grinned and kissed her, tickling her ribs and making her squawk and squirm. It was impossible to stay irritated with him. “But it’s so fun. Did you see the cumin one?”
“I saw it. Are you ever going to grow up?” She was failing miserably at staying annoyed, and at not laughing from his tickles.
“Not if I can help it. And you’re serious enough for the both of us.”
That was true. “You mean I’m the more adult of the two of us.”
“Sure.” He gave her a smacking kiss on the lips and hugged her to him, squeezing tight, then put his mouth to her ear. “If you’re done, does that mean I can get you alone upstairs for a while?” he whispered. “Because I really wanna cumin your—”
“Shh!” she hissed, aghast. Emily and Luke were both staring at them. “I found something,” she blurted.
At that he straightened and met her gaze, dropping his teasing demeanor. “What is it?”
She caught Luke’s gaze over by the sink. “You should see too.”
Luke set the dishtowel down and gave Emily a warning look. “Be back in a minute, so don’t you dare touch these dishes. I’ll finish them when we’re done.”
Sam and Ben followed him into the study where Ben had put the label maker back on the shelf. “I got a name on the accounts,” she told them as soon as Ben slid the door shut behind them.
“Who is it?” Luke asked, hands on hips.
“Joseph Hanes. And I’m guessing he doesn’t get paid that kind of money on his government salary. From what I can tell, he’s been embezzling what’s probably dirty money from the American government, and someone wanted to expose him.”
The question was, what were they going to do with the information now?
Chapter Nine
“Oh, that last house was the best of all,” Sam said, slinging an arm around Emily’s shoulders as they, Nev, Christa and Bryn all walked along the sidewalk toward the visitor’s center at the end of their two-hour tour.
The historic Christmas walking ghost tour had been even more fun than she’d expected. She’d learned lots of interesting things, and the historic district was gorgeous, especially done up with holiday decorations.
“You just liked the mulled wine,” Bryn said wryly.
“Yeah, because it was awesome.” She was definitely tipsy. She’d had three cups of the warm, spiced perfection. “The tour guide loved the additions to the tour.”
“Helps that Em knows pretty much everyone in this part of town,” Bryn said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to see inside any of the houses.”
“The decorating was unreal,” Christa added. “I’ve been dying to see inside these places since I first came down here, and to see the private gardens.”
“I liked the treats,” Nev said, polishing off the final shortbread she’d snagged from the last house.
“Good, because you’re eating for two now,” Emily said.
Sam couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun. Hanging out with the girls had been awesome. “Hey, you guys wanna do some caroling?” she asked brightly.
The others all looked at her. “No,” Nev said, laughing. “How ‘bout you sing for Ben when he comes to get us?”
“I’m not gonna sing by myself,” Sam grumbled. “I haven’t had that much wine.”
“You had yours and Nev’s,” Emily teased, then glanced at her watch. “Luke and Rayne should be on the way to pick us up,” she said to Christa and Bryn. They needed two vehicles to get everyone back to the house. “I’ve got the games all ready to go.”
“Mind if we make a quick pit stop first?” Nev asked as the visitor’s center came into view. “One of the joys of pregnancy is having to go to the bathroom a billion times a day.”
“I’ll go with you,” Em offered. “Menopause is the same.”
“We’ll wait for you on the sidewalk out front,” Christa said, and the three of them kept going when Em and Nev peeled off to hit the bathroom.
“Where do you think Ben and Rhys went off to, anyway?” Bryn asked Sam as they passed the visitor’s center. She wanted to come back tomorrow and tour the exhibit about Fort Sumter. People booked tours and took a ferry from nearby to go visit it.
“No idea, but I guarantee Ben’s irritating the hell out of Rhys right now,” Sam said, grinning. Things were never dull with Ben around.
Christa laughed. “I love the way they banter. You can tell they’re close.”
Sam nodded, feeling the tiniest bit dizzy. Or maybe it was because the sidewalk was uneven. “They’re ridiculous. Loyal to each other to the bitter end, though.”
They stopped on the far sidewalk running along the main road in front of the visitor’s center. Sam tipped her head back to stare up into the sky, inhaling even as she wobbled a bit. If she didn’t fall asleep by the time they got back to the house, Ben was so getting lucky.
“It’s so gorgeous out.” An almost full moon hung in the dark blue sky, the breeze holding the salty scent of the nearby water as it rustled the palmetto fronds above them.
Rapid footsteps made her glance to her left. No sooner had she spotted the large silhouette coming at them than an arm snaked around her waist from behind.
A hard hand over her mouth stifled her cry of warning, and then two more men converged on Christa and Bryn. Before she could twist around to fight, something hard jabbed into her ribs.
She froze, her blood icing over at the feel of the gun pressed to her.
“Scream and you’ll regret it,” a deadly male voice growled in her ear.
CHRISTA’S HEART SHOT into her throat when a man materialized out of nowhere and grabbed Sam.
She opened her mouth to scream, instinctively turning to reach for Bryn, but someone grabbed her from behind, jerking her to a halt. A muscled arm locked around her waist, and a hard hand covered her mouth.
Instinct took over.
She sank her teeth into the hand over her mouth and whirled, momentarily breaking the man’s grip. “Get away from me!” She lashed out with her foot, managed to catch him in the knee, making him stumble.
She’d been assaulted and kidnapped before. Never again.
She twisted around,
terror forking through her. Bryn and Sam were both being dragged toward the road. Behind her, she could hear the man she’d kicked coming after her.
Christa turned and ran down the sidewalk, yelling for help.
An SUV sped up to the curb in front of her, its headlights off, and plunged to a halt. She spun to the left, veering away from it. She could hear the running footsteps behind her, her pursuer coming closer.
Her skin prickled. “Help!” she screamed, and glanced over her shoulder.
The guy holding Sam was already dragging her toward the vehicle, and Bryn was struggling valiantly against her attacker.
A hand shot toward her. Christa wrenched away and spun hard, then sprinted for the hedge lining the sidewalk. But the guy chasing her was right behind her. Too close.
She hurdled the hedge, her heart slamming in her chest as she raced back toward the visitor’s center. Nev and Emily. Were they okay? She had to attract attention and get help.
A strong hand caught the back of her jacket. She let out a scream and shrugged out of it, almost tripping before she regained her balance and kept running.
The man chasing her cursed, his closeness sending a rush of terror down her spine. No! He was right on top of her. She’d never be able to outrun him, and the visitor’s center entrance was still too far away.
Her gaze landed on a hefty branch lying on the ground under a tree. She ducked to snag it as she ran, but her legs felt wobbly, the fear sapping her muscles and slowing her down.
The man behind her was right there, an arm’s length away. Any second, he would grab her. She had to fight him off. She was Sam and Bryn’s only chance to get help.
Gripping the end of the branch in both hands like a bat, she stopped suddenly and whirled to face her attacker, swinging it with every ounce of her strength.
The dry wood slammed across the side of the man’s head, and shattered. He grunted, grabbing at his head as he fell sideways into the bushes.
Skin crawling, Christa dropped the branch and ran, but he was already up and after her again. The sidewalk ahead was empty.
“Help! Someone help me!” she screamed, hoping someone would hear her. There was no time to pull out her phone, she couldn’t slow down.
She could hear the man’s breaths as he chased after her, didn’t risk a glance over her shoulder to see if he was unsteady on his feet. It sounded like he was getting closer with every heartbeat.
No! She had to stop him. Couldn’t let him catch her.
She veered left, heard him curse and then the rustling of shrubs. She kept running, not daring to look back, but she’d just gained a few seconds’ lead-time.
But he was still back there. Still coming after her. And the sidewalk ahead of her was still deserted. No one was coming to help her.
She glanced around frantically as she ran. The landscaping bordering the sidewalk transitioned from shrubs and hedges to round stones. Without pause she reached down to grab a softball-sized one, then planted her feet and whirled.
He was barely thirty feet away. Coming right at her.
Adrenaline pouring through her, she reared back her right arm and launched the rock at his face. She missed by inches.
She snatched up another stone, spun, and hurled it at him.
A sickening thud sounded as it slammed into his forehead. This time he went down hard, but she didn’t wait to see if he got up, just spun and ran, her lungs about to explode.
Another hedge appeared in front of her. She leaped over it, her legs growing rubbery under the lash of terror, but then she was in front of the visitor’s center at last.
Except there was no one there.
Swallowing a sob, she yanked her phone from her pocket and raced ahead for the bathroom, hoping to save Emily and Nev.
****
“I swear my bladder’s already been reduced to the size of a damn walnut,” Nev said as she did up her jeans and exited the washroom stall. The tour had been fun. Watching Sam get half-tanked had been even better.
Emily was already over at the sink washing her hands, and met her gaze in the mirror. “I remember what that was like. And enjoy those jeans while they still fit. It’ll be a long while before you’ll be in them again.”
“I’m actually looking forward to wearing stretchy pants.”
“How are you feeling, by the way? Any nausea or anything?”
“Some, though usually just if I go too long without eating.” Nev soaped and washed her hands, noting the carefully concealed shadows beneath Emily’s eyes. And if Nev wasn’t mistaken, she’d lost some weight since they’d seen each other at the double wedding in August. “What about you, how are you feeling?”
Emily shot her a surprised look, then softened it with a smile. “Good. Loving every moment of having all of us together.”
Now that Nev could believe. There wasn’t a kinder soul on this earth than Emily, and she was a gracious and warm hostess. Nev would talk to Luke alone when she got the chance over the next day or two. If something was going on with Emily’s health, he would tell her.
“We’re loving it too.” She accepted the paper towel Emily handed her.
“Good. And that surprise you pulled off last night was just incredible. I’m so excited to be an honorary meemaw.” Emily pitched the used paper towel into the trashcan.
Nev laughed. “Is that what you want the baby to call you?”
“Of course, and Luke will be pawpaw.”
Oh, she bet Luke was gonna love that. “Then meemaw and pawpaw it is.” They started for the door.
“Is Rhys excited? He’s still hard for me to read.”
“Yes, but he’s nervous.”
“That’s to be expected for any first-time daddy. But he’ll do fine. Luke was amazing when Rayne was tiny, and he dealt with the sleep deprivation a thousand times better than me.”
The thought of seeing Rhys, her hard, giant warrior husband, holding their newborn, was enough to turn her into mush. “That’s good to hear.” Not that she had any doubts about Rhys. He just needed some confidence about being a parent.
They stepped out into the cool night air. Nev glanced down the sidewalk in the direction the others had gone earlier. “Do you think—”
“Help!”
Nev’s gaze shot to the left. She stiffened in alarm as Christa ran toward them, eyes wide, her face a mask of terror. “What’s wrong?” she blurted, stepping out in front of her and glancing around defensively.
Christa stopped in front of them and bent over, gasping, trembling all over, phone in hand. “They t-took Sam and Bryn,” she panted.
Nev sucked in a breath. “What?”
Christa whirled, pointing as she brought her phone to her ear. “Over there. They—” She stopped and faced them again, her shoulders heaving. “Two of my friends were just kidnapped,” she blurted out, Nev guessed to a 911 operator. “At the Fort Sumter Visitor’s Center.”
Headlights cut across the parking lot. Nev automatically grabbed Christa and Emily, ready to run.
“It’s Luke and Rayne,” Emily said, hurrying toward the SUV.
Ben and Rhys would be on their way here in the other vehicle.
Luke was behind the wheel. He stopped sharply in front of them and rolled down the window. Rayne was already climbing out of the passenger seat. “What’s wrong?” Luke demanded.
“Someone just took Bryn and Sam,” Emily said, then pointed in the direction Christa had come from. “Christa’s called 911.”
Luke jumped out and grabbed Christa by the shoulders. “Where are they?” he demanded.
“That way.” She pointed behind her, shaking visibly now. “I-I think I knocked one guy out, on the path back there.” She sucked in a breath, her phone still in her hand. “Two more guys dragged Sam and Bryn into an SUV. I don’t know which direction they went in,” she choked out.
“I’ll find them. Are the cops on the way?”
“Yes.”
Luke faced Nev, expression tense. “Call Rhys and tell
him what happened. I’ll call Ben.” He gripped Emily’s shoulder. “Stay with Rayne. All of you, stay with Rayne.” Finally, he turned to his son. “Don’t take them to the house. Find a secure location, stay there, and wait for me to contact you.”
Without waiting for a response, he took off at a sprint in the direction Christa had indicated.
Rayne ran up to grab Christa in a hug just as Nev yanked her phone from her purse to dial Rhys. Oh, God, Sam… And Bryn.
“You okay?” Rayne asked, taking Christa’s face in his hands.
She managed a nod. “I c-couldn’t stop them,” she whispered, tears spilling over.
Rayne hugged her to his chest with one arm and corralled his mother and Neveah with the other. “In the SUV. Quick.”
Nev rushed for it, fingers shaking as she hit Rhys’s code on her phone and clambered into the backseat of the waiting vehicle. Fear twisted inside her as Rayne jumped behind the wheel and took off, racing them away somewhere in the darkness.
The phone rang in Nev’s ear. “Pick up,” she whispered, her heart racing.
“Hey,” Rhys answered, the hint of a smile in his deep voice. “How did the tour go?”
Nev swallowed back the tears gathering at the back of her throat, hating everything about this. Ben was going to be destroyed when he found out. “Someone just took Sam and Bryn.”
Chapter Ten
Luke raced up the sidewalk, scanning for threats and any sign of the guy Christa had brought down. He didn’t know how she’d done it, and didn’t care, he was just glad she was safe. But to have any chance of saving Sam and Bryn, he had to find out where they’d been taken.
He caught a flash of movement in the shadows to his left, and veered toward it. A man was staggering to his feet, his back to Luke. Luke barreled toward him, seeing the blood on his face as the man stumbled around, his face illuminated by a streetlamp near the corner of the road.
Luke dove at him, catching him around the ribs in a flying tackle. They hit the ground with a thud, and Luke rolled fast. The guy grunted as Luke pinned him flat on his belly, catching the meaty wrists in his hands.
